The Tenth House

By Veno

What is the importance of the 10th House in a natal horoscope? The 10th House is the zenith point of the passage of the Sun through the 12 Houses, Sun being the natural atmakaraka or representative of our Soul. 10th House is where the Sun shines most visibly at maximum strength. It is where the Sun's hot rays, the radiance of our soul can make the most impact. It is where the soul's role is most important.

The 10th House is an Artha House. Artha means wealth and relates to resources. In a simplified way, the 10th House can be seen as our value as an individual during our short passage of time on this planet. It is really what our lives have amounted to at the end of the day when all is said and done. It is the very validity of our existence in the eye of a higher authority, the universe itself. 10th House is often attributed as being the house of profession but it is much more than that. It as our 'collective identity',where we fit in the bigger picture.

When analysing the chart from a mundane perspective, our daily job can be better determined by other factors in the chart even though the 10th house might give the type of professional backdrop we work under. we often find the 6th house (nature of our daily work) or 2nd house (earning money) more reflective of our professional role. The 10th house is related to those who have authority over us ie. father, employer, government, God. The employer or professional backdrop for a Scorpio Ascendant who has exalted Sun (10th lord) in Aries in the 6th House might be a renowned hospital or healing centre. But the nature of that person's daily work might be more reflected by the position of their 6th lord. If Mars, their 6th lord was exchanging with Mercury (11th and 8th lord) in the 6th and 8th house , they may be a secretary in the financial department of that organization. In the case of authors who have no regular 2nd house income and generate their income through 11th house (mass sales), their professional role is more easily seen via the 3rd/5th (publishing authorship) and 11th house.

10th House can be called the house of status.A well fortified 10th house will often give someone an esteemed position whether this is recognized by the masses or not. Mass popularity is not a direct result of 10th house, but more to do with factors such as 11th house (widespread influence on others), 7th house (dealings with the public) 4th house ( effect on the masses), 5th house (house of fame) and Moon (popularity).

Sun represents many things, ego, pride, father, authority, fame and finally soul. We don't perceive our soul's nature directly with our conscious intellect but our soul is the invisible observer or deep motivating force which propels us along. So even our greatest role as signified by the esoteric 10th house is not necessarily something we are always completely conscious of. A person with Aquarius Ascendant might have their 6th lord of daily work placed in the 3rd house of creative expression. Their daily work might be as a musician. They might have Rahu (anarchist) placed in their 10th house in the sign of Scorpio (upheaval) and their 10th lord Mars placed in the 2nd house in Pisces (nature of reality), so their 10th house role from a deeper universal perspective might be a revolutionary who is here to convey deeper truths on the nature of reality. The person doesn't call themselves a revolutionary, as far as they are concerned they are a musician or a poet (10th lord in 2nd house of poetry). But the 10th house will play out its role regardless of how they identify with it. The 10th house is unable to act out its role alone, everything depends on the chart as a whole. In this instance the nodes would be placed along the 4th and 10th house axis, so alot of this person's revolutionary potential depends on what they make of their 4th house (inner stability and psychological harmony) which provides them with the inner security needed to defy a greater establishment and the emotional maturity needed to awaken higher states of awareness. To be great at their role, their Ascendant would need to be strong, so that they can direct their basic energy or talent constructively. They should have a powerful 9th house, philosopy,higher wisdom,integrity. The strength of their 3rd house would reveal their motivation, courage and communication ability. So when we really try to understand the 10th house, a summation of our life's role on the planet and how well we play that role, all the other houses of the chart either contribute or deflect from that role.

10th house is part of a group of two other Artha houses, the 2nd and 6th house. So alot of our 'role' in terms of value or wealth is also dependant on these two other houses. The 2nd house reflects the wealth of our Ascendant or First House. The First House is that sum of energy we are born with, the basic individual potential we are given to work with. If we were making a pie it would be the basic ingredients. We might be given bad ingredients or good ingredients depending on the strength or weakness of the House. A person born under Jyestha Ascendant in the third portion of Scorpio will have as one of their basic ingredients authoritative power. Where they display this talent for leadership is indicated by the direction of the Ascendant lord. If Mars, the Ascendant lord was placed in the 11th house in Virgo, they might be the leader in a group setting where they learn to interact with others in a very organised or specific manner. The worthiness of their leadership is connected to the second house, how resourceful they will be with that basic ingredient they have been given. If they develop and enrich that potential they can use this to help or serve others, to defeat opponents and to reconstruct or mould themselves (all facets of the 6th house). This is going to elevate them to a certain status in life, and allow them to have impact on the environment, world, universe, something they can be proud of or which makes them shine as reflected by the 10th House.

10th House also belongs to the kendra group of houses. It is the pinnacle of these angular houses. These kendra houses can be compared to the basic foundation of a building; the 1st House being the self, the 4th house being the environment in which that self is nurtured, the 7th house is where one engages the self to interact with the world around it, and the 10th house are the repercussions of that interaction, how one fits into the scheme of things, their piece in the puzzle.

The other grouping of houses which the 10th House belongs is the Upachaya houses, which are consideresd houses of growth, or affairs in life which improve with time and effort. Our maturity of life experience enables us to focus our interests in life better (3rd house),to face life with less fears (3rd house), to become skilful at what we do (6th house), to become an authority in our field (10th house) and to share our influence with others (11th house).

Sun is the most important karaka for the 10th House.Other karakas for the 10th house include Mercury, Saturn and Jupiter. Mercury is our intellect and communication capacity, how we communicate our role to others. Saturn is the servant, the disciplining force, whether we are willing to humbly accept our role depends on Saturn's placement in the chart. Jupiter is the luck or growth aspect and a natural significator of wealth. The beneficence of our role is dependant on Jupiter, how well we are able to bring a worthy contribution through the role we are playing.

Whether we have high status or low status, does not matter, the identity bestowed by the 10th House is a universal recognition of what our contribution is to the collective whole, the nature of the role we have been assigned. It is not always judgement on how well we play that role, but the nature of the role itself.

A person might have a very weak 10th house. What could that mean? A person might have their 10th lord debilitated in the 12th house of obscurity and loss. They would go through life without any status. Still the soul might be playing an important role in this case. They may have been assigned a lowly position for a greater purpose. Of course karma works on many levels and this lowly position might also be tied to some important lessons in reducing attachment to pride or ego. However not all negative karma should be seen as a result of punishment, but part of a greater design to integrate the higher workings of destiny,which we can only glimpse from a careful study of the entire horoscope.

The more we get in touch with the deeper layers of ourselves, the more we understand our 10th house role on the planet and how to play that role successfully.How do we reach the heart of the Sun, the Sun at full strength, the Sun that sits in the 10th house, the deepest layer of our being? We do this through the vehicle of the mind, the Moon. We can awaken windows in the mind which allow us to get closer to our heart centre, or soul nature. We access the mind through the conscious application of our intellect, Mercury. We apply energy and effort in this process via Mars. This effort is purposefully applied when we have love or seek higher union, Venus. This search for union occurs through Jupiter, when our conscience awakens to higher possibilities. This conscious awakening to higher possibilities happens through Saturn, when we learn to master and control our lower nature. Rahu is either going to lead us into confusion through temptation or intoxication or act as a tool of opportunity to make the path easier. Ketu will either overwhelm us by identifying too much with our past or help us to purposefully maximise Rahu's opportunities.

If we really want to change our lives for the better, the house directly responsible for how well we handle our karmic destiny is the 5th House. The 5th House is the house of destiny, magic,prayer, intelligence, the intelligence we need to confront all our karmas. The 5th House works in direct par with the 11th House. The 11th House is the hunger to achieve, it represents the pinnacle of our desire nature. This ultimate desire to attain a particular goal helps us to align our life in a particular direction. If we improve our intelligence we aim for worthy goals, become more efficient navigators. We can alter our destiny through the power of magic or prayer. This propitiation of beneficient forces can help us achieve the grace of God (9th house)and magically avert the misfortune that might befall us from the past deeds or misdeeds. We create new life through the window of the 5th house. The 5th house is the house of love. The fact that love and our karmic destiny live under the same roof shows the power of love to change ourselves. It is not just any love, but the impersonal unconditional love of the Sun who shines on all things equally without preference or bias. With love we achieve great things, we awaken latent powers and can perform great acts of service (10th house is 6th from the 5th house) and eventually shine like Gods, sitting high in the midheaven of our 10th house.